Latest Enceladus Stories

The scientific community was a-buzz in late 2013, when NASA researchers reported that the Hubble Space Telescope had detected 120-mile high vapor plumes emanating from the south pole of Jupiter’s moon Europa.

Analysis of a massive rectangular feature buried just below the lunar surface by NASA’s GRAIL spacecraft has revealed that the giant basin on the moon’s near side was likely created by ancient lava flows and not a massive asteroid collision.

Scientists using mission data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft have identified 101 distinct geysers erupting on Saturn's icy moon Enceladus. Their analysis suggests it is possible for liquid water to reach from the moon's underground sea all the way to its surface.

June 30 marks the 10th anniversary of the Cassini spacecraft’s arrival in the Saturn system, beginning a four-year primary mission that was extended on three occasions and ultimately led to the collection of more than 500 GB of data and the publication of well over 3,000 scientific papers.

If there are cracks on the ice-covered surface of Charon, an upcoming analysis of those fractures could help determine whether or not the interior of Pluto’s moon was warm enough to have been home to a subterranean ocean of liquid water.

Newly released images from NASA’s Cassini probe have revealed the “birthing” of a tiny moon in orbit around Saturn. The images, taken exactly one year ago on Tuesday, showed evidence of the formation of a tiny icy moon, named “Peggy”

Saturn's moon Dione -- Dione is a moon of Saturn discovered by Giovanni Cassini in 1684. It is composed primarily of water ice, but as the densest of Saturn's moons (aside from Titan, whose density is increased by gravitational compression) it must have a considerable fraction of denser material like silicate rock in its interior.
Though somewhat smaller, Dione is otherwise very similar to Rhea. They both have similar compositions, albedo features and varied terrain. Both have dissimilar...

Saturn's moon Enceladus -- Enceladus is a moon of Saturn discovered in 1789 by William Herschel.
At least five different types of terrain have been identified on Enceladus. In addition to craters there are smooth plains and extensive linear cracks and ridges.
At least some of the surface is relatively young, probably less than 100 million years. This means that Enceladus must have been active very recently with some sort of "water volcanism" or other process that renews the surface....

The Planet Saturn -- in astronomy, 6th planet from the sun.
Astronomical and Physical Characteristics of Saturn
Saturn's orbit lies between those of Jupiter and Uranus; its mean distance from the sun is c.886 million mi (1.43 billion km), almost twice that of Jupiter, and its period of revolution is about 291/2 years. Saturn appears in the sky as a yellow, starlike object of the first magnitude. When viewed through a telescope, it is seen as a golden sphere, crossed by a series of...